Who we are
Adroit has a small, exceptionally high quality team of specialist consultants. All are experts in their fields and have a wealth of experience and knowledge gained from years of experience of working in the public sector, in industry and in academia. In addition to our core team, we can also draw on a network of associates and freelance consultants to provide the full range of skills and expertise that may be needed to meet our clients’ needs on specific assignments.
Adroit Economics comprises the following members:
• Dr Steve Sheppard
• Jamie Fotheringham
• Michael Kitson
• Tim Livesley
• Nicola Jones
Dr Steve Sheppard – Managing Director
Dr Steve Sheppard has a PhD from the University of Cambridge in Economic Development and Planning and is a specialist regeneration economist with over 20 years experience in the fields of economics, regeneration, development and planning – working in consultancy, real estate and academia. He specialises in technology, innovation, enterprise and infrastructure projects.
During his career, Steve has undertaken assignments for a range of high-profile clients that include the DTI, most of the English RDAs, universities, research organisations, local partnerships, the European Commission, and the World Bank.
Steve brings a unique blend of experience – policy and strategy; economics; development and planning; project feasibility; financial and economic appraisal; science and technology; inward investment and marketing; programme evaluation; and organisational structure and change. Steve is a leading advisor on regional and sub regional ICT strategies, programmes and projects.
Some of Steve’s more recent assignments include:
- Economic impact study of ICTs on regional economies for e-skills UK
- UK-India science and innovation strategy for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Department of Trade and Industry
- Health technology industries study for Yorkshire Forward
- Technology workspace study for Manchester Enterprises
- Student enterprise incubation project for Cheshire and Warrington LSC
- Preparation of a business plan for Newcastle’s flagship Science City development
- Preparation of a regional ICT strategy for the East of England Development Agency
Contact Steve on:
Jamie Fotheringham – Senior Director
Jamie holds both bachelor and post-graduate degrees in economics and has worked extensively on development projects in the UK and overseas. He has worked in professional consultancy for the last fourteen years and specialises in economic regeneration, evaluation studies and social research. As a professional economist Jamie has also gained a breadth of experience in economic impact assessment, strategy development and financial appraisal, having undertaken a number of Green Book appraisals for major UK and European funded projects.
Jamie has a particular interest in community regeneration and has conducted evaluations of schemes within all major UK regeneration programmes in the last ten years (including SRB, Neighbourhood Renewal, Neighbourhood Management, and New Deal for Communities), and also a range of European programmes.
Recently, Jamie has focussed on issues of skills and employability amongst socially excluded groups, through assignments examining approaches to tackling worklessness and improving labour market participation amongst traditionally ‘hard-to-reach’ groups.
Recent assignments Jamie has worked on include:
- Evaluation of Worklessness Programmes for Southwark Council and Southwark Alliance
- Kettering and Corby Skills Audit for North Northants Development Agency
- Review of Community Buildings and Services for Darnall Forum
- Evaluation of £33m London Riverside SRB Programme for London Riverside Ltd
- Economic Impact of the Milton Keynes South Midlands Growth Area for Advantage West Midlands
- ESF Co-financing Project Appraisals for London West LSC, London South LSC and Birmingham City Council
- Economic Action Research Planning for Hastings Borough Council
- Business Crime Survey for Wolverhampton City Council
- HM Prison Service - evaluation of IMPACT EU funded training programme for HM Prison Service
- Quality Improvement Agency – Review of Barriers to NVQ Delivery in Custodial Settings
- Successful Regeneration in the North West – development of indicators to benchmark regeneration projects for the North West Development Agency
- Options appraisal and preparation of Heathrow Local Labour Strategy for BAA and LSC London West
Contact Jamie on:
Michael Kitson – Affiliate Director
Michael Kitson is a University Lecturer in Economics for the Judge Business School and the University of Cambridge. He is also Co-Director of the Programme on Regional Innovation at the Cambridge-MIT Institute.
Mike specialises in national and regional innovation and competitiveness; entrepreneurship, labour markets and skills; with particular sector expertise e.g. health technologies, aerospace and others.
Mike’s research and publications include:
- The Competitive Advantage of Regions, Routledge 2006 (edited with R. Martin and P. Tyler)
- ‘The American Economic Model and European Economic Policy’, Regional Studies, Vol. 39.7, October 2005
- ‘Social Capital, Economic Growth and Regional Development’, Regional Studies, Vol 39.8, pp. 1015–1040, November 2005 (with S. Iyer and B. Toh)
- ‘Regional Variations in Competitiveness and the Implications for Regional Policy’ in A. Cosh and A. Hughes (eds), British Enterprise: Surviving, Thriving - or Dying?, ESRC Centre for Business Research, University of Cambridge, 2007, forthcoming
- Regional Variations in Innovation (Funded by the DTI)
- University- Industry Knowledge Exchange (funded by the ESRC)
Contact Mike on:
Tim Livesley – Senior Consultant
Tim has six years of experience in regeneration and economic development consultancy. His areas of specialist interest are worklessness, social inclusion, learning and skills, resettlement of ex-offenders and the reduction of crime and fear of crime.
Tim’s experience is based in the management and delivery of a wide range of consultancy assignments. He has undertaken evaluations and economic impact assessments at both project and programme level. Tim has also led on strategy development and the creation of investment frameworks and forward plans. His work has also included large-scale market research, skills audits and feasibility studies.
Tim is experienced in a range of consultation techniques, including the management of community and business surveys, conducting interviews across a broad spectrum of stakeholders and leading focus groups with diverse client groups in community consultation exercises.
Tim’s recent project experience includes:
- Skills Audit – Hattersley Neighbourhood Partnership
- Evaluation of Heathrow City Enterprise Project – London Development Agency
- Oxford Road Corridor Enterprise Strategy – South Manchester Partnership
- IMPACT project evaluation – HM Prison Service
- Business Crime Survey - Ashfield District Council
- Review of Attitudes and Barriers to Entrepreneurship – Stoke-on Trent MBC
Contact Tim on:
Nicola Jones – Senior Researcher
Nicola is a Senior Researcher with Adroit and has worked on a range of economic and technology projects including economic impact studies, e-government, information and communications technologies (ICTs), innovation & incubation and high-growth/knowledge-based sectors and clusters. Nicola has also worked on a range of economic and social research projects, providing policy and data analysis and undertaking market research.
Nicola’s recent assignments include:
- Formulating the Cheshire & Warrington Enterprise Strategy, researching workspace specific issues as part of the Regeneris team.
- Formulating a technology workspace strategy for Greater Manchester for Manchester Enterprises.
- Mapping university research teams in the healthcare technology industry sector for Yorkshire Forward
- Economic analysis on behalf of the North West Regional Development Agency to support the analysis of the economy behind the review of the Regional Economic Strategy
- Review of the Gateshead Housing Company for Gateshead Borough Council, specifically interviewing 200+ new tenants as part of a team put together by the Housing Consultancy Partnership
- Auditing the life sciences research strengths of the three universities of Leeds, Sheffield and York for the White Rose Consortium and helping them target these globally to generate additional collaboration and inward investment
- Mapping UK assets in biotech and digital industries for DTI in support of their ‘Attracting Global Entrepreneurs Programme’
- Prospects for digital industries inward investment for Yorkshire Forward
- First of ‘new style’ competitiveness studies (electronics sector) for DTI
Contact Nicola on:
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